


I See My Life In Terms Of Music

by magicsanta



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Angst With Comfort In The Fifth One, As in Groot is fully grown again, Family Fluff, I wrote this a month after the first one came out so non-compliant with volume 2, Music, Pure Fluff And Humour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-25 02:51:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10755207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicsanta/pseuds/magicsanta
Summary: OR Five Times Peter Quill Let Someone Borrow His Walkman And One Time He Didn't Have To





	I See My Life In Terms Of Music

**1 – Yondu**  
Most of the time their new Terran tag-along is unbearably loud. If he’s not howling like they’ve wounded him or making those pathetic sniffling noises, he’s playing. If you can call loud yelling and pounding feet playing. As far as Yondu can tell the kid is making noise for the sake of noise, and it’s annoying. (At least that’s what he tells the crew and nobody’s stupid enough to question him, not even when they catch him smirking at Peter’s antics.)

But there are times when he’s completely silent, when he’s wearing those strange headphones. Anything with enough power to make Peter quiet is fascinating, so he keeps one eye on the boy when he wears them. His head moves to a rhythm that can just about be heard over the engines – is he TRYING to deafen himself? Sometimes he shuts his eyes and makes really weird movements. 

When he taps the boy on the shoulder one day, he has to fight down real laughter as the kid jumps out of his boots and wrenches the headphones off. “What?!” Quill demands, the picture of pint sized fury.

“What are you listening to boy?” Yondu asks, giving Peter his best unimpressed look. “Better question, what are you doing with your arms?”

“It’s Spirit In The Sky, I’m dancing,” Quill replies; chin jutting out defiantly even though his eyes are wide with fear. This is the first time he’s spoken to him without a reason to tell him off, and they’ve had the kid nearly a month now. No wonder he’s a little spooked. “Why do YOU care?”

“I’m curious.” Yondu shrugs and smiles at Peter and he’s surprised to find he honestly is interested. As always, his unbeatable charm and winning smile are useless on the kid, who continues to peer at him suspiciously. “How about letting me have a listen?” He asks and holds out an expectant hand. Peter steps back and clutches the music player protectively; the boy all but bares his teeth as he glares up at him. Unfazed, Yondu follows him. “If this here tape is so valuable maybe I should take it off you for good instead of asking so politely.”

Peter immediately hands it over, but his shoulders are tensed and when Yondu pulls on the headphones a little too forcefully the boy barks “Careful!” at him.

He doesn’t hear Peter fully over the fairly upbeat melody that suddenly hits him. It is... oddly soothing, the urge to bounce on the spot is incredible and by the amused, wary smile on Peter’s face he must be giving into it. 

“This isn’t too bad!” He yells over the loud music and though Peter jumps a little, he immediately begins nodding excitedly. Yondu’s just considering the logistics of installing a tape player on the ship when the thing in his hands makes a demonic noise. A loud shriek, and then suddenly “when I die-“ is repeating over and over and over. The assault on his ears is too much and he throws the entire thing away from him with a furious roar. 

“No!” Peter dives for the box and headphones, but Yondu is faster than any dumb Terran kid and he grabs it back again, holding it out in front of him in disgust. 

“It’s possessed!” He snaps when Peter tries to lunge for the ‘Walkman’.

“It’s not possessed it’s OLD!” Quill screams at him and his movements grow more erratic as Yondu only lifts it further out of his reach. “It skips sometimes because it’s a little broken!”

“It’s no good having junk lying around.” Yondu moves away swiftly “If it’s broken, we’re getting rid of it.”

“But you COLLECT junk!” Peter screeches with a voice that’s high and scratchy. “You’re a RAVAGER please don’t-!”

“If you were one of us you’d know we collect valuable junk, and junk we can FIX.” He leaves the room and a screaming Peter behind, pocketing the Walkman instead of throwing it out an airlock only because one of his men distracts him with a list of possible bounties they can take.

That’s what he tells himself until the entire goddamn ship echoes with the boy’s sobbing all night. It’s hard to senselessly throw it away when it clearly means SOMETHING to him. Especially when he now sits as far away from Yondu’s pilot seat as possible, and his eyes are all sleepless and bloodshot. For a second there, in between the excited bouncing and Quill’s rare smile, the kid had been warming up to him. A softer part of him he thought he’d squashed wants the kid to warm up to him. They’re stuck with the kid, it only makes sense to get used to him right? Now that tentative bonding has halted in its tracks and Quill’s even more afraid of his Ravager ‘family’ than he was before.

So a month later, and it’s only a month as opposed to a week later because parts are annoyingly hard to find and steal, he drops the Walkman in front of Peter during lunch. There’s silence between the two of them as Peter looks up at him, eyes wide.

“What...?” He picks up the Walkman, opens it to look the tape over. Awesome Mix Volume 1 stares back at the boy’s dazzled face.

“We collect junk we can fix,” Yondu says simply and he takes the chance to sit down beside the kid while he’s not flinching away from him. “Who would have thought we could fix something this messed up.” Peter doesn’t reply, he’s staring at the tape like his life makes sense again. “It shouldn’t do that terrifying ‘skipping’ thing anymore, and don’t you worry about it dying on you. I can’t even pronounce the thing they got powering it or what they put in the headphone wires-”

Peter Quill somehow manages to wrap his little brat arms around Yondu and hug him. It’s the weirdest experience of his life, and his life has been pretty weird. He lets the kid hug him for a second and enjoys the warm, fatherly feeling he’s sure he’d understand if he had real kids of his own. “Thank you,” The kid says quietly, and though that breaks the spell he doesn’t even protest when Yondu pushes him away with light grumbles.

“Hugging is for wimps,” Yondu huffs, and Peter beams at him before immediately pulling on the headphones. He definitely doesn’t smile back.

_(Song – Spirit in The Sky)_

 

**2 – Drax**

The Milano is, all things considered, an obscenely spacious ship for one man in Quill’s line of work. To call it cramped with five people aboard would be unfair, and Peter enjoys finding company in every room now. It makes the ship more alive, there’s always something going on or someone to mess with. He hadn’t even realised how much he wanted the company, until now.

Unfortunately a group of people tend to generate plenty of noise, and a group of friends are even louder. Not everyone enjoys noise as much as Star Lord, Whirlwind of Energy.

Drax in particular seems aggravated by the chaos. Normally he joins in with their noise but on some days, like today, Peter can only ever spot him out of the corner of his eye, sat to one side and looking supremely uncomfortable. He can almost hear the tension the big guy is carrying. They’re not doing anything overtly noisy, just preparing lunch. Trying to prepare lunch anyway, the good thing about being a dysfunctional family is that nothing is ever boring.

Except it’s very noticeable that one of them isn’t joining in the fun, and less fun overall. No matter how many times Gamora threatens Peter with a pan that he’s just burnt something in, or Rocket insists loudly that alcohol is totally a lunch food, it’s not the same. Finally Peter can’t take seeing him sat all by himself and oddly quiet anymore.

“Drax?” Peter calls for him and he finally looks up from sharpening his weapons. Though he simply tilts his head, that look in his eyes says he’s at breaking point. The reason why this noise is bothering him isn’t obvious to Peter, but it doesn’t need to be. There are a lot of quirks he’s had to learn about Drax’s behaviour, mostly courtesy of severe beatdowns from Gamora. Going by the look she’s giving him, noise intolerance will be added to the list. 

“Are you okay?” Gamora asks when Peter continues to stare at Drax in deep thought. 

“I am fine,” Is all Drax says. Gamora squints at him, she’s clearly utterly unconvinced but Drax very rarely lies to them so... Peter shares her confusion, but then he’s only half paying attention because back at the table the chaos is ongoing. Groot appears to be seconds away from being set on fire, and Rocket is _not_ helping the situation. Drax tenses at the noise, and Peter has had enough. 

“Can we help you at all?” Peter asks at last. 

“Give him your Walkman, those headphones must block out noise well when you don’t turn it on,” Gamora suggests. Peter’s hand covers the music player protectively. (“If this here tape is so valuable...”) Yondu’s voice echoes annoyingly around his head, since that incident he’s avoided lending it to people on principal. He looks at Gamora, she’s looking exceptionally dangerous right now. He looks at Drax, and finds he’s out of his seat and cautiously approaching.

“If the device will block out this noise...” Drax pauses to consider his words; his eyes have locked onto where Peter’s hand is shielding the device from view and he must be able to tell Peter is reluctant. “I would be very grateful if you could let me use it.” The pressure that sits in Peter’s stomach is almost painful even as he reluctantly begins to detach himself from his Walkman. He breathes, and forces himself to see sense. This is Drax, his friend and wow it still sounds weird to say that about someone. Drax wouldn’t do anything to it to scare him like Yondu, nobody on this ship would. Not seriously anyway.

“Don’t play it, it’ll make more noise,” Peter says as he hands it over to Drax. “The headphones should muffle our noise if you leave it turned off though.” He can’t help but wince as Drax yanks them over his ears a little forcefully, but the tension floods out of him a little as Drax seems to relax.

“This is much better!” He says in a very matter of fact voice. Peter shrugs, holds up a hand in acknowledgement, and goes back to dealing with lunch as Drax strides back to his chair. 

Some days Drax doesn’t like to be touched, sometimes he repeats one of Peter’s new, odd metaphors over and over again. This is just one of those things. Peter can part with his Walkman for a while for Drax, who can resist that square, grumpy face. 

A few hours later Peter regrets those words. Drax rejoins the middle of the storm later as they plot their next excursion. He looks considerably brighter, and Peter can hear music playing from the Walkman which must be a good sign. There’s one oddity though, the headphones aren’t on Drax’s head. He’s holding them in one hand and frowning at them in confusion.

“Quill, what is an alligator?” 

_(Song – Moonage Daydream.)_

 

**3 – Groot**

“I am Groot!”

Peter looks up from an incredibly complex plan, spanning 4 large sheets of papers, to get every single moron on his team back for a prank involving warm water, his hand, and a bed. Groot’s hands are behind his back, almost as if he’s nervous, and Peter slips his headphones off to hear his tone of voice better. 

“I am Groot?” The tree, bigger than ever, asks almost cautiously. Peter is confused, but then he usually is when Groot speaks. They stare at each other for a minute, and then Groot gestures at his headphones. Peter realises then what song is playing, with all the excitement of plotting Gamora’s water balloon related demise he’d stopped paying attention to the music ages ago.

“Oooh, yeah sure buddy,” Peter says brightly. The Jackson Five are officially banned from the ship’s tape player, so he must want to listen to his song. Between Groot’s love of the song and Rocket insisting they should let him listen to whatever he wanted while he was in the pot, Gamora and Drax are one step away from homicide. And it’s not like Peter can doubt they’d do it. He hands Groot the Walkman and helps him get the headphones – which only just about fit – onto his head. 

He’s so busy marvelling at Groot’s impressive dancing, he doesn’t even think about how easily he handed over his most important possession. 

_(Song – I Want You Back)_

 

**4 – Gamora**

When she follows up her request with a pointed look at the walkman before staring resolutely at the floor, Peter is dumbfounded. Drax looks at Rocket for an explanation of a metaphor that isn’t there, Groot’s surprisingly expressive shocked face appears around a corner behind Gamora.

“What?” Gamora snaps. She stares down every single one of them in turn before letting her gaze rest on Peter, and he makes sure to maintain that infuriating smirk. “Are you deaf Quill?” She demands almost defensively. His last name usually precedes something very painful or a lot of yelling, so his hands totally fly up out of INSTINCT and not fear. 

“Just... Why do you want it?” Peter asks. “The last time I listened to this in the same room as you, you said you’d smash it to pieces if I didn’t put it away.”

“I was going over a battle plan,” Gamora argues.

“It was a SHOPPING TRIP,” Peter corrects her, and all she does is sigh like HE’S the one being stupid.

“And did you, yourself not say it would be an ‘uphill struggle’ to stop Drax adding sweets to the cart? Did you not SHUDDER at the thought of going past fragile valuables with Rocket?”

Something hard, which Peter really hopes isn’t explosive, bounces off the back of his head. “I am a reformed gentleman!” Rocket yells, and another heavy object crashes into his shoulder.

“Hey quit it!” Peter yells, turning around to face his enemy and immediately getting hit in the face by something metallic. Rocket just sits there and laughs. 

“What’s wrong with sweets?” Drax asks in that stubborn voice that means he’s about to ask 100 questions. “Don’t you like sweets?” Peter answers him by throwing Groot’s empty pot at Rocket. The distraction works and Drax is too busy chuckling at Rocket’s indignant face to ask another question. 

Peter hands the Walkman over to Gamora, anything to get her out of here. “Just take it and your blackmail as far away from me as possible,” He mutters. “Why do I put up with you people?” The question addresses the entire cockpit and Groot. A unanimous shrug is his answer. 

“Thank you,” Gamora responds, but as she holds it up to the light a familiar tension settles in his stomach. This is Gamora, they nearly died for each other. Surely he can trust HER with the tape?

“Take care of it,” He warns her, and some of the minute anxiety he feels must show in his voice because she gives him such a sincere, earnest look.

“I will guard it with my life.”

That’s why he puts up with these people.

###

They don’t find out why she wants the Walkman until days later, when Awesome Mix Vol. 1 is in the tape player. A familiar chant flows from said tape player, and just as easily from Gamora’s mouth.

_(Song – Hooked On A Feeling.)_

 

**5 – Rocket**

Rocket doesn’t ask.

The Milano’s engine is starting to sound very abused, it’s not that they can’t fix it easily it’s that getting parts is really hard. The options come down to Rocket’s suggestion of stealing everything, and Peter’s suggestion of scavenging things to make what they need. Stealing is deemed too much effort, scavenging means getting to explore some planets. The vote isn’t hard.

That’s how they find themselves wandering through a mostly abandoned town towards an empty research lab. At least that’s what it looks like. This planet has a fair amount of stuff to scavenge, a lot of places got left empty in their rush into space, but nothing will be as good quality as whatever’s left in a research lab. Nature isn’t taking back the town yet, but every time they take a step they stir up dust. Rocket’s hitched a ride on Groot because being that close to the ground with 4 people kicking up particles isn’t great for his health, no matter how funny Peter finds the constant sneezing. 

“Ok, Ok I got one,” Peter says around childish giggles as they’re climbing the steps to the facility. “What kind of tree can fit into your hand?”

“I am Groot!” Is the enthusiastic reply.

“Yeah you can if you explode, but the correct answer is a palm tree!” Peter’s chirpy reply is almost covered up by the loud groans let out by his friends.

“That was a new low,” Gamora huffs, actually glaring at him.

“Disgustingly devoid of humour,” Drax agrees. 

“Actually Groot told you to flark off,” Rocket growls, literally growls.

“Oh come on, it was funny!” Peter laughs and practically trips back down the steps when Gamora pushes him to one side.

“I have a joke,” She says nonchalantly as she fiddles with the door lock. “What’s annoying, eats like a pig, and has a lifespan that’s shortening with every pun it makes.” 

“Is it you?” Peter asks gleefully. “You’re not annoying, and your eating habits are actually endearing.” 

Gamora abruptly straightens up and kicks the door down. 

Peter makes sure he stares at the ground and makes absolutely no noise as they follow her in. In fact, everybody goes quiet when they get inside. The silence they enter into is oppressive enough to bring even Rocket’s mocking laughter to an abrupt halt, and the eeriness changes the atmosphere completely. They don’t wander along the entrance hallway. They stick close together automatically.

“Okay well this is... officially the creepiest building ever,” Peter whispers and the echoing distorts his words into some kind of demonic mutter.

“Don’t talk that quietly,” Rocket snaps at him. “That makes it weirder.” And he’s one to talk really, with the freaky echo his yelling is producing. But it’s not the hypocrisy that gets Peter’s interests, it’s the tension in Rocket’s voice.

“I am Groot?” Groot asks quietly, and Peter is distracted from Rocket immediately when there is suddenly light. He jumps a little when the first glowing spore floats past him, but Drax and Gamora startle just as much.

“It’s fine. Good job, yeah, that makes it much better,” Rocket answers Groot, who literally grows a little taller with pride. “Let’s just find what we need and go.” The spores have already started to slowly light the way ahead for them, so they bury the feeling of gloom and press on.

That stays their philosophy, find what they need and go, for about 5 more hallways and one room. Then they walk past cages, dark cages which seem to watch them walk, and something shifts in the atmosphere again. That one specific spot with cages piled high has no significance to most of them. So when they pass it and are hit by the sudden increase in tension, the only thing worse than the feeling of imminent danger is the confusion.

“What was that?” Gamora grabs Drax’s shoulder and Peter’s arm, muscles tensed to fling them behind her. The spores abruptly stop moving, and they all listen very carefully. There’s an unmistakeable noise coming from behind the three of them. A low, growling sound. They whirl around to confront the source, and find it – he – is perched on Groot’s shoulder.

“What are you looking at?” Rocket’s voice is muffled as he’s partially hiding his face behind Groot’s head. 

“Are you... okay?” Gamora asks after a few seconds of nothing but the overwhelming silence and Rocket’s growling. Rocket’s fur is standing on end, and the defensive growling in his throat is constant. No matter how much he coughs it just keeps coming back, it must be instinct.

“Déjà vu.” Rocket grunts and grimaces when he sees them all looking at him. “What am I, some kind of freak show?” He demands, the growling in his throat only gets worse. “This place just reminds me of another place I don’t ever want to go back to.” Peter wants to say something about how he avoids hospitals, or just... say something to stop Rocket making that face at them. Groot opens his mouth to speak, but he only gets as far as a slight noise when Rocket interrupts again. “Everybody just keep moving and stop looking at me like I’m a pet spooked by thunder.”

“Nobody’s looking at you like you’re a-“

“KEEP MOVING!” Rocket snarls at Quill and turns his face away again. Drax jumps backwards at the noise. They’re used to Rocket yelling but this is... something else.

They keep moving though, all very careful to keep their eyes forward and let Rocket have his privacy. They’ve all got damage and plenty of it, and they try not to let each other’s affect them. Gamora in particular though seems angrier or upset, it’s hard to tell but she does march at a faster pace. This careful ignoring continues for three more rooms despite the growls, punctuated by Rocket muttering to himself to stop it, coming from behind them. Finally in the fourth room Rocket shudders, and Peter can’t help but look back.

Rocket has moved from his perch on Groot’s shoulder to being held against the flora colossus’s chest. The bark has grown around him as a support structure even though Groot’s arms keep him there. It makes sense because frankly he’s shaking so much it’s a miracle he hasn’t already fallen off of Groot. Peter looks away abruptly when Rocket glances his way, and pretends the panel on the wall is incredibly interesting. All they find is some scrap metal from a shelf, which Drax retrieves before they wander out of the room. 

When Peter checks up on Rocket again he sees Drax and Gamora looking too. It’s hard not to look. The spores lighting their way have retreated to float around the raccoon, but he still keeps fidgeting. The only thing he keeps still is one paw which is practically embedded in Groot, moss and soft plants grow around the support holding him there and that paw. His shoulders still shake, and those are distressed sounds they’ve only heard once before whilst plummeting in the Dark Aster. Groot finally looks away from his charge to the three people looking at him. They’ve been hearing him repeat “I am Groot” in a soothing, quiet voice for a while. But now he makes a sound which is unmistakeably desperate, if not a whine. No matter how hard he tries he can’t help his friend calm down.

“We need a guard outside,” Suggests Drax. “Rocket, you have good eyesight.” Rocket barely stirs, his face remains resting on Groot’s chest. 

“I am Groot?” Groot tries to get through to him. Rocket finally raises his head, in stiff movements with a tense neck. 

“Do not take me out there,” Rocket tries to sound fierce and his claws dig into Groot harder, as if someone will pull him away. “I’m not going where you guys ain’t.” He looks between all of them, desperation glinting in his eyes. “You’re... reminders.” He focuses on Gamora and Peter sees her give a half nod, her eyes clear with understanding. Later she will reluctantly explain to him what that means. Reminders they survived. Reminders that the past of being ripped apart and toyed with is gone, it didn’t break them. They got better. They got their fellow Guardians. If they’re around, the memories flashing through Rocket’s head are just visions. But on your own, and Gamora’s eyes will cloud over here briefly, on your own the visions, fake pain, and reality will blur.

“Quill have we got enough salvage to make the most important parts?” Gamora takes charge immediately. Peter nods. He knows they haven’t, but he can get them to the nearest planet with a poorly guarded store with what they have. “Then let’s get out of here, it’s rubbing me up the wrong way.”

Rocket makes a strangled noise at the thought of going back the way they came, past cages and dirty viewing windows showing small tables. He tries to mask it with a cough.

Peter doesn’t think, he just immediately grabs his Walkman, attaches it to Groot near Rocket’s paw, and hands Rocket the headphones. “Put them on, listen to...” He counts through the tracks by memory and chooses the most comforting yet upbeat one he can. “THIS song, and shut your eyes.” Rocket complies, the fact that he doesn’t even try to insult Peter is the scariest part of it all.

They practically run from the facility. Peter nearly trips up and smacks his head into a wall whilst keeping an eye on Rocket, if he takes those headphones out he’s in for a world of pain. But Rocket doesn’t. He keeps them on, curls himself towards Groot, and keeps his eyes shut. When they finally emerge out of the building and sunlight hits their faces, Rocket’s eyes open. He doesn’t say anything though, and the headphones stay firmly attached. 

Walking back to the ship they’re as quiet as they were inside the lab, but it’s not eerie, or awkward, or oppressing. It’s something else entirely, and Peter can’t find the right words for it. It’s thoughtful, an aware silence. They could say something, but they feel more comfortable like this. They glance back at Rocket every so often and each time Peter expects him to yell at them. But he doesn’t.

No comment passes his lips again until they’re back on the Milano and an easy ‘group-lounge’ has been going on, on a sofa for the past half hour. (Groot sits in the middle, branches sprawled out like he owns the place. Drax and Gamora commandeered the sofa either side of Groot, so rather than argue with two trained killer Peter sits leaning back against Groot’s legs. Rocket sits on the back of the sofa, between Groot’s shoulder and Drax’s head but leaning on Groot.) Of course this first comment is an insult to Quill’s music, immediately followed by him telling Groot to stop showing off by casually floating spores around them. Peter doesn’t correct him, Rocket must know they’re floating out of relief he’s okay.

“We’d all agree with the song’s message you know,” Quill defends himself quietly. “You need us, we’ll be there.”

“On the double?” Rocket’s trying to make a joke, but it comes out sounding like a serious question. 

“We are Groot,” Is the only answer profound enough to be worth giving. Everybody murmurs in agreement as Groot pulls Rocket into the centre of the lounging group, ignoring his protests.

“Yes,” Drax says immediately. “Whatever the double is, I would ride it if I needed to get to you.” The four of them chuckle (even Groot looks amused) they shouldn’t but they can’t stop it, and of course Drax joins in. That only makes it worse. Soon they’re laughing uncontrollably until they HAVE to stop and take in one deep breath. Their almost simultaneous inhaling and exhaling feels like closing the floodgates. The tension lifts as easily as air, leaving behind slightly raw nerves and deep relief.

“If you need me, call me,” Confirms Gamora. “Much faster than sending a letter or riding the double train.” She chuckles, losing her composure at the last second, and soon they’ve all joined her again.

“Ok now THAT was a bad joke!”

Rocket doesn’t ask. Until he hands the Walkman back to Quill, honestly thanks him, and asks him not to speak of it ever again.

_(Song – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.)_

 

**(And 1 Time He Didn’t)**

The first night that they all spend together on the Milano, after the danger has passed and they all just really want to sleep, they wake each other up three times.

First, Drax stretches out in his sleep on the makeshift sofa bed he’s been given. His feet kick a harmless wooden bowl off the end table. Instantly they all awaken. Gamora’s eyes snap open, she springs up and into a combat stance on the chair she’s commandeered. Peter sits up immediately from the floor despite his neck’s complaints and aims his gun at the bowl while half asleep. Drax leaps towards the source of noise... and promptly scuttles backwards again as Rocket aims and fires. It takes five seconds of staring at the ashes of the bowl for everyone to realise what’s happened. They seem to sigh deeply as one, before giving Rocket judgemental looks. They’re half hearted looks though, he still has one paw curled protectively around Groot’s pot. They get it, and they slowly settle down to sleep - with more than a few light-hearted jokes about Rocket’s bravery in the face of certain death by bowl. 

The second time it’s more understandable that the noise would jolt them from sleep. Peter screaming “MOM!” is a lot louder than a bowl hitting the floor. Everybody’s at his side – or carried over to his side in Groot’s case - in an instant. His eyes are tightly shut, but all Gamora has to do is tap his shoulder and he gasps. As his eyes open, the arm that was reaching out abruptly drops down to his side. For a long time he stares at the ceiling blankly, and they’re not sure if they should do anything at all. Finally, Gamora and Drax say his name as one and his catatonic state eases slowly. He looks from face to face and apologises quietly, that’s never happened on this specific ship before. Not since he was a child. They all sit together for a while, talking about anything else. When Peter makes a cautious quip about his bed hair they agree it’s safe to sleep again. But they do drag their blankets and sleeping spots closer together.

That turns out to be a mistake. When Gamora rises first because she’s used to waking up early, everybody else wakes up with her. Peter panics, despite already waking up twice he still expects it to be another normal day where he’s late for meeting Yondu. Drax appears to have been taken out of a nightmare about his past, because he grabs for a weapon and snarls Ronan’s name before realising where he is. Rocket stays curled up around Groot’s pot, aggressively shielding him from view. When he finally places Gamora’s face he sighs and un-curls, yawning in synch with their smallest passenger. Gamora apologises, but Peter cuts her off.

“I guess we’re all light sleepers huh?” He yawns too, frowning at Rocket and Groot as the yawn travels around the room in a circle. “Well, old anxieties are gonna die hard I guess, it’s not our fault. But come on, we’ve been awake for... it must have reached over 24 hours at some point. Come back here, lie down, and sleep until your bed hair is as awesome as mine,” Peter pleads with her, her lack of sleep is more important than a disturbance to his. Gamora gets her drink, and almost immediately afterwards goes back to join them in a lifetime’s worth of sleep.

They get used to waking up together with fear crushing their lungs. A creak in the hull, the common occurrence of one of them having a nightmare, in the early days someone walking too fast past Groot’s pot is enough to stir his fuzzy protector. 

They help each other, like they always do. They never let someone wake up alone, as soon as they see each other and realise where they are they calm down very quickly. They put each other at ease with bad jokes, and assistance in weapon cleaning if getting back to sleep is impossible. Then, once they’ve all borrowed Quill’s Walkman, his music and Groot’s spores soothe them back to sleep easily.

Which is why when he seriously screws up navigating a little space junk one night, the first thing Peter grabs for is the Walkman. The first word out of his mouth is “Shit!”

Everyone is sleeping, he should be too really but they take shifts piloting sometimes and this is one of his favourite tasks. Plus, if the heavy ‘thunk’ of something hitting the ship is anything to go by, he needs the practice.

As soon as he’s briefly checked there isn’t any major damage he turns his attention to the real problem. With the Walkman in one hand, Awesome Mix Vol. 2 in the other, he runs to their bunkroom... and finds nobody there.

“Shit,” He repeats. That was a loud disturbance, they must have already gotten up to investigate. Gamora’s going to kill him. The first place he checks is their so called ‘chillout’ room opposite the kitchen. If they’re anywhere, they’ll be there. It’s roughly where the space junk hit and also where their weapons are. It’s also where the tape player is.

“I’m so sorry about that noise guys, but I’ve got the tape so we can go... back... to sleep?” Peter blinks rapidly at the sight in front of him.

Everyone is asleep in one big pile, completely peaceful and not at all looking recently disturbed. They’ve slept right through it, and it’s more than a little incredible to see. To think they feel that comfortable now, they’ve come so far in a short amount of time.

Groot acts as the base of the sleeping tower and soft moss covered bark has spread across the floor so everyone’s resting on something comfortable. Drax is asleep with neither hand curled into a fist, a peaceful smile on his face. Gamora has one arm swung over Groot and her body is contorted into a properly stupid sleeping position. One that looks like she genuinely isn’t expecting to have to quickly jump up and defend herself. Rocket takes up the part of Groot’s chest Gamora isn’t on, but his paws are suspiciously close to her hand and Drax’s arm. His blaster is nowhere in sight.

“Guys?” Peter tries cautiously, in-case this is a prank. He really hopes it isn’t. “Guuuyyyss I’m going to borrow a couple thousand units from you if that’s okay?” No response. “Lazy bastards,” He says affectionately, grinning in disbelief. Looking at that comfy group he starts to feel a little sleepy himself. The ship is on autopilot after all...

He leaves the tape and Walkman on a table. When he approaches them, the moss extends to make space for him without Groot even opening an eye.

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from what is supposedly an Einstein quote. I remember it being a quote from someone else when I first wrote this a month after the first Guardians released, but it has been a _while_ since then.
> 
> So I saw the second film and I loved it so much, the family dynamic lined up so perfectly with how I imagined it, that I decided I had to dust this off and publish it. Again it is old, and I only edited it a little ^^.


End file.
